Held Under
by aweena
Summary: Ryan and Natalia go undercover to find a missing girl, but run into a dirty cop who blows their cover.  Explicit language, torture, violence.  Rated M
1. Chapter 1

She thought of everything that had led up to that moment. Every turn, every decision, every thought. And she wondered if just one of those turns could have been different, if any thought could have been changed. Would it have changed anything? Would they be in this mess? _No, _she thought. This was the beginning of an awful end. There was no way out of this. But she wasn't going to leave him here. She would die with him. There was no way she could walk out of there without him, leaving him to bleed to death, unless they got to him again. She'd already decided long ago that she would stick with him. No matter what. Even if he hated he for that. For breaking her promise.

She felt warm, wet fingers slip around her arm as she held him. He could hardly speak. "Shh…" she whispered, trying to hold her tears back. She leaned back against the wall, holding his head in her lap.

"Nat…" His blood streaked her arm, pooled through her fingers. She looked down at him, caressing his face as he closed his eyes. She swept his hair, sticky with sweat and blood, from his forehead. His eyes reopened and he stared off to the wall across the room. His breathing was shallow and raspy, hitched. She heard the blood rattling in his lungs as he struggled to breathe.

"Ryan?" Natalia whispered. He glanced back up at her, his eyes going in and out of focus.

She gently wiped the blood from his face with her shirt sleeve. It did little good. Tears filled her eyes and broke through her barrier as she held back a sob. She ran her fingers over the bruises covering his face. Over his swollen eye. Over his soft cheekbone. Settled onto his collar bone. She rubbed his chest absentmindedly, as though to sooth the both of them.

They heard footsteps outside in the hall. She watched as his eyes roamed over to the door. There was shouting, footsteps thundering upon the floor.

Natalia nodded to herself. She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and did something she hadn't done in years.

She prayed.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan had a new, temporary name. He stared at his fake ID Horatio had just issued to him. The name read John Stephens. He glanced at Natalia, who looked nervous. Horatio handed her one similar to Ryan's.

"They know who Eric and Calleigh are already. You two are the only others this close to the case. But you need to be careful," he warned them.

Natalia followed Ryan out of the room, butterflies dancing around in her stomach.

"You okay miss…" Ryan grabbed Natalia's ID, "…Miss Alexandra Tyson. Like Tyson chicken?"

"Ha!" Natalia scoffed. "More like Mike Tyson. Better watch what you're saying, or I'll kick your ass." She picked the face license from her partner's hand.

"I know, I know. But are you?" Ryan asked.

"Am I what?"

"Okay. Are you okay?"

Natalia glanced up at the florescent lights, shrugging. "I'm just a little nervous. But it's nothing new. I've done operations like this before," she explain, forcing a laugh.

"No. Not like this. This is really dangerous, Nat. It's okay if you want to back out now. You know I won't look down on you for it. I know you/re a big gal and can handle yourself. I'm just worried…"

"About what? Like you said, I can handle myself. Perfectly," she said confidently.

Ryan sighed and followed her to the locker room. They grabbed what they needed and left. Ryan let Natalia leave first. They were never to arrive or leave anywhere at the same time. It would be safer that way. He waited a few minutes, then headed for the stairs, deciding he needed the time to think. Halfway down the hall, he ran into Eric.

"Hey. You guys off already?" Eric asked.

Ryan nodded."The sooner, the better."

"True," Eric agreed. They stood there for a moment, silently.

"Well, I'd better go-"

:Be careful, Wolfe. You're taking my position here, so if anything happens…"

"Eric, it's not gonna be on you. Don't worry about-"

"But I will. I'm worried already. About the both of you. We all are. I'm just wishing you luck," Eric said quietly.

"Thanks. But hopefully we won't need it," Ryan said jokingly.

"I hope not," Eric replied. It was quiet again. Eric clapped Ryan on the shoulder. "Be careful. And keep her safe," he added.

"Say no more," Ryan smiled. "Thanks." Eric nodded, and Ryan turned back and headed for the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Objective: seek out Guelda Chestnut, age 9, and return her to safety.

Neither Ryan nor Natalia knew where this girl was. All they knew was that she was in danger, and would possibly be found dead if they weren't careful. They were to gain the trust of Alfonse Vaspucci, a small drug cartel ring leader. Vaspucci's daughter, Guelda, had been taken from her mother two months ago. Rumor had it that Vaspucci had kept her away in a series of his own little safe houses spread out through Miami. Ryan was to go in first, and Natalia would follow in suit a few days later. Horatio already had one person in, so it would be fairly easy for Ryan and Natalia to be accepted into the charade. Jelly, aka James Brandt, aka Jimmy Branson by the gang. But he went by Jelly. Funny, but the nickname was given to him by Vaspucci himself. Jelly had control, almost as much as Vaspucci.

Horatio knew that if they could get more than one of their men into the mix, they would have a better chance of finding Guelda alive. Things were starting to explode on a larger scale. People were disappearing, being killed. Vaspucci went from a small street dealer to a drug warlord in a matter of months. Something needed to be done before more innocent people died. People like Vaspucci's older son, who had a remarkable resemblance to Ryan. And that was where Ryan came into the picture.

Xxx

Jelly lead Ryan into the warehouse with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. "You don't talk back. You take his orders and carry them out. No matter what. Or you'll be six feet under with a knife in your back. Got it?"

Ryan nodded, shaking the image from his head.

"Now you're not gonna get to see him straight away, but he'll wanna see you face to face sooner or later. Until then, just chill and do what you're told. Got it?" Jelly repeated.

"Got it," Ryan replied. He relaxed his posture, fitting in with the rest of the men in the room. They'd had Ryan training on weights, cardio, anything to get him into the best shape they could, until his muscles strained and ached from the pressure, until his lungs burned, until his heart pounded into his throat. So he would be like every other hardened "soldier" in the room. Like anyone under Vaspucci's order.

"You're gonna have to undergo initiation-"

"We've been through this, J. I'll live. Is Alexandra…"

"She'll be fine. I've already made sure of that. She'll be the first woman we've had in the crew since '07, they wouldn't lay a finger on her," he explained.

Ryan was lead into the main room. He had a bad feeling tearing at his stomach, but he knew it would just tell him to turn and run, and that was something he couldn't do.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at them. Or more at _him. _The new guy. They all stared hard at him, but he stared back. A few of the larger men approached, one throwing a towel over his shoulder.

"New guy," Jelly announced. "General," he said, acknowledging the man with the towel.

A few of the guys laughed, and Jelly looked down at Ryan. "I gotta go, but I'll be back," he said, as though he had better things to do. The expression on Jelly's face didn't give Ryan any reassurance. Jelly abandoned him a few moments later, leaving him as bait for the six larger men standing in a defensive position in front of him, arms crossed, legs planted apart.

General was bigger than the rest. He tossed the towel aside and approached Ryan. "Name."

"John Stephens," Ryan replied.

"We'll see about that," he spoke firmly, his dark frame towering over Ryan. He was at least a foot taller, and had a few pounds on him, despite Ryan's training.

Fighting back didn't seem like the smartest thing to do, but when the fist swung at him, Ryan ducked and threw all of his weight at his opponent, surprising the both of them when they landed hard on the floor.

He was suddenly thrown off as a hand ripped him backwards. Whoever was behind him held his arms back, gesturing for another to help. Ryan nearly wrenched his arms loose, but another of the men grabbed one, and General regained his posture. He came at Ryan, slamming all his weight into one punch to the stomach, knocking the air from his lungs. Ryan doubled over as another punch sank into his side, and he heard a crack. He didn't have much time to think of it before General pounded into Ryan's face, again and again.

Ryan kicked out as hard as he could, catching General in the knee, and surprising the two holding him. He wrenched himself away, tackling the man to his left. He saw three others just standing by, but ignored them as he pummeled the man under him. The man blocked a few of the punches, but most of them landed solidly on a cheek bone, a jaw, a nose. He kept hitting, even when a pipe made impact on his back once, twice, when someone put him in a choke hold, attempting to pull him from their crew mate, when he heard a voice screaming in his head for him to stop, give in, get away from there. He felt a knee in his side, and he fought again to breathe as he was pulled off.

The hands held him again as General swung the pipe into his stomach over and over, until he felt he would pass out from lack of air, pain, or both. He couldn't let out a sound, he couldn't cry out couldn't wheeze, nothing. He pulled in a shaky breath to keep himself from passing out, then the pipe landed on his cheek, and he blacked out. He opened his eyes but couldn't see anything. He heard things around him, but his head was heavy, and the pipe was swung again, this time nearly knocking him out.

Ryan was thrown to the ground, his head smashing into the wooden floor. His head whirled painfully, and he couldn't move. He opened his eyes, but couldn't make anything out. Everything was blurry, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. He saw red pooling out onto the ground, felt it running into his eyes, warm and wet. As he closed his eyes against the stinging, feeling the darkness taking over, he wondered what he'd gotten himself into.


End file.
